The family violence laws that protect spouses from abuse also apply to people who have been in a relationship or who have a familial relationship with one another, including people of opposite sex who are together but are not married, as well as people who have a child in common, whether or not they are together. Children are also protected against abuse from parents, the live-in partners of parents, or individuals who act as parents. In addition to physical domestic violence, threatening to cause injury, if the words cause actual fear, may constitute domestic violence.

In 1995 and 1996, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted laws strengthening existing North Carolina violence laws, primarily the Domestic Violence Act found in the North Carolina General Statutes 50B.